Mustafa Avcı completed his undergraduate studies in Economics at Boğaziçi University, followed by a master’s degree in Ethnomusicology at ITU MIAM and a PhD in Ethnomusicology at New York University's GSAS Music Department. His academic research focuses on topics such as gender in Ottoman and Turkish society (including köçeklik), music and dance, the history of sound and noise, and the music of the Ottoman diaspora in America (1890–1970).

He has received research and merit scholarships from institutions such as the Social Science Research Council, the Society for Ethnomusicology, and New York University. As an artist, composer, and creator of theater and film music, he has contributed with installations, film scores, theater music, and contemporary art projects at events including the Istanbul Biennial, Mardin Biennial, Istanbul Film Festival, and Istanbul Theater Festival. He has been invited to create a sound sculpture for the SACO Biennial in Chile this summer.

In 2018, his music for the film Yuva, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, earned him the "Best Original Film Score" award at the 30th Ankara International Film Festival in 2019. Avcı currently teaches in the Computational Social Sciences Master's Program and the Sociology Department at Koç University.